GARDEN RUIN.......

I think I need this..................


                                                                 

 

 

We just redid two of the raised beds in our garden.....

a mole had gotten in and raised havoc ,

so as the peas ended we dug out the beds and put down wire

to keep them out.

As each bed finishes we will redo it.

A lot of work all because of a mole!!!

 

 

 

Then I found this on Pinterset..........

When I showed these pictures to Gary he just groaned.

 

Please Gary, I NEED this!!

I think our vegetables will taste so much better

if we have this..........

Memory Jug #19

The Latest Addition To My Collection.......

I found this memory jug online.........

It came from the Pennsylvania area.

11 1/2inches tall, it's made on a stoneware gin bottle.The items include

wirerim glasses, scissors, keys, metal sword,

wishbone , several interesting buttons,

and of course.....a peach pit!!

This is the second old jug I have bought that has a small bottle on it that has

broke over the years. If you are making one and want it to stand 

the test of time, I would avoid small bottles 

no matter how cute they are.

In The Garden:

Yesterday I planted peas. The weather has been so mild here, almost spring like,

except there isn't the length of days.

For the last two years by the time I could get them in the ground,

 the weather turned so warm that they didn't do very well.

This is my first year with raised beds so I decided

to experiment a bit.

Yes it's early, but if the climate is changing , maybe we have to as well??

(Of course it could start snowing at any moment )

They might not do anything .......not enough sun?

I'll let you know.

                                                                            

Bringing in the last of Summer................

GATHERING IS GOOD...........................

Herbs  hanging and drying.........................

Blackberries and mulberries brewing into a  liqueur........

Marigold seeds drying .....for next years planting

The ever present zucchini.................

We have been having lots of chicken, garlic and zucchini pizza!!

Check out her dough recipe.......if you need one. 

Garlic ready to be planted for next years crop......................

And lots of corn!!

Not from our garden, from the farmer down the road.

We have been using this recipe

LOVE IT !!!!!!!!!

In between all this country mouse thing, I did manage to get out for a bit

and "gathered" this..................

I have a love for textiles and these from India

are high on my list!!!

Indian crazy quilt?

Do you love it too???

I bought this for a specific project.............

Now the hard part,......cutting into it

                                                                  

STILL CRAZY...after all these years!!

Tattered and in shreds.........

But this old girl had my name on it......................

Literally...........!!!

This quilt is dated 1894 and has many initials on it,

but the stitching all looks the same so I wonder if it was done by one person?

Lots of stitching inspiration......

The fabric over the date square has long since shredded, but the

date, tattered ,still remains.

I have a project in mind for this, I'll keep ya posted!

IN THE GARDEN.........................................................................................................................

First black poppy................

So pretty, but don't last very long.......wish I had "oodles" of them!!!

Maybe if  I shake the pods over the bed I will get more?

ALSO.....one of the longest garder snake skins I have ever seen....

I am sparing you a pic of that!!

This particular snake has been sunning himself daily along my watering hose

basking in the warmth! (scaring the heck out of me over and over)

I am hoping he shed his skin and left town!!!!!

                                                                              

BUTTERFLIES and LADYBUGS

The Butterflies...........................

Today my grandson Matthew and I made our butterflies

to send to The Holocaust Museum in Houston.

If you haven't heard of it, The Butterfly Project is  an

effort underway by the museum to collect 1,500,000

 handmade  butterflies

for a special exhibit to represent and honor the 1,500,000 

innocent children that perished in the Holocaust.

Matthews .......

Mine.....

Although we had fun cutting and pasting , and we are looking forward 

to sending our butterflies and being a part of this project,

we also had some very important conversation. 

Some of it was very hard. How do you tell this history to a child?

But more importantly.......how can you not?

If you would like to send a butterfly, and want more information,

you can get it here

or, if you want to click on the butterfly button on the right 

sidebar, you can read about another way you can send your butterfly and take

part in some extra fun doing it. 

The Project is named after a poem written by Pavel Friedman.

Pavel was born in Prague Jan. 7,1921....

deported to the Terezin Concentration Camp on April 26,1942

died in Aushchwitz on Sept 29, 1944.

He was 23.

(please read the poem)

  

                                                            
 The Ladybugs...............................

Then it was out to the garden ........................

                                                                            

We had gone to the garden center earlier in the day

and Matt saw the LADYBUGS!!

I couldn't say no, ......

 I wanted them too!!

I wish these ladies could eat whatever is nibbling on my beans!!!

Ladybug...............Ladybug............................

                                                                                       
  

Junk in The Garden...

Our neighbors put up new fencing and set these 4x4s out at

the road in case anybody wanted them. So .....yeah for me....

some new raised beds!

We actually had enough to make these 2 raised beds, 

a lower strawberry bed, the frame for the new compost bin,

and a arbor.

I made markers from old silver plate from thrift stores.

It's coming along , but s.....l...o.....w.....l.....y.....

 These windows hinged together fit perfectly

to make little greenhouses over the basil.

I still needed a couple more beds for squash..................

so I made these temporary ones ...................

uh, I think they look like graves............

The Cryptkeeper??????

NO, we haven't had a single bite yet.... however.......rabbits, deer, and slugs.........

all seem to be eating well.

New compost bin..............still needs door,

Corgis LOVE compost piles!!

Junk in my planter, and I don't know if you can see,

but the blue creeper in my lawn is starting to bloom,

before long my whole lawn will be blue.

My Grandmother had a blue lawn,

I always loved it and mine is a tribute to her.

Junk chair planted with baby tears.............

surrounded with moss of course!

And lastly, a lovely old bird bath at a farm down the road.

Built about 50 years ago, it stands sturdily on

outside the big old barn covered and full of...................

moss.

Come on sun, 3 days of you is not enough!!!

Everything is up, but it is shivering and huddled,

can't grow without you!!!

                                                                          

A SWEET LABYRINTH

  I AM TAKING ON A NEW PROJECT.........................

This labyrinth is tucked into a back corner of a small church in  town.

The garden club I used to belong to meets monthly in that church, so  occasionally after our meetings 

I would wander over there and spend some time.

I stopped in a couple weeks ago.....there was a nice friendly couple weeding and

tidying up. In the course of our conversation I asked them if they were the ones that usually weeded and cared for it. They said that actually nobody did on a regular basis and that had become a bit of a problem.

SO............guess who the new" unofficial, parttime, as needed,  when, and if I want "

caretaker/weeder is???   

                                                                              

Isn't this a sweet, simple  labyrinth?

My understanding is this was a "project" of a former minister at the church.

Some of the bricks have the name of a church member that has passed on carved into them.  

I have always toyed with the idea of making a labyrinth of my own.

Over the years I have saved articles about making them, photos, etc.

But it just never happened.

I am hoping this will be a win win situation for all!!!    

                                                                     
                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                     

Back Where I Started??

The whole issue of genetically modified food has me creeped out. I don't know as much about it as I should but the time to learn is now before it's too late. I am worried that at some point GM food will be the only thing available to us in the grocery stores. So shopping at and supporting your local Farmers Markets is important. Or even better, growing as much of our own food as we can.  I used to do that back in "the day" but somehow thru moves and life changes fell away from it except in very small amounts. Oh yes, that was me, canning, milking goats, spinning, making soap, etc. With one big difference.....I was a lot younger!!!

Here is a list of seed companies that offer free catalogs of organic seed. I can't speak for all of these companies some of them are new to me. But even just reading thru their websites you can get a feel for what is going on in the seed  industry today. I am certainly no expert but I am trying to educate myself on this issue. I hope you will as well. If you know of any other organic seed companies that you would like to share please feel free to list them in the comment section.


http://www.johnnyseeds.com/Catalog.aspx?source=google_seed_offer&9gtype=search&9gkw=seed%20catalog&9gad=6800230453.1&gclid=CKzBhfPWj6cCFQRubAodBkr-dg

http://www.seedsavers.org/CatalogRequest.aspx?gclid=CKCEhqLWj6cCFQQFbAodsHqgcA

http://rareseeds.com/

http://www.groworganic.com/

http://www.territorialseed.com/

http://www.eldoradoheirloomseeds.com/

What are you planting in your garden this year?

EDITED on February 22 to add.......When I was in Fred Meyers yesterday  I noticed that over the Ed Hume seeds there was a sign stating  "no GMO " . So for those that only want a pack of seeds here and there without ordering from catalogs that might be an alternative with the added benefit that they are a local company.